First Date(s)
by Keira-House M.D
Summary: Five times Rose and Scorpius unsuccessfully attempted to have their first date and the one time they managed it. RW/SM. Birthday fic for WonderWitch123.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, it is the property of the brilliant J.K Rowling. This story is the product of her marvellous characters and world and my imagination.**

* * *

 **Will You Go Out With Me (0)**

Rose, Scorpius and Albus were sitting at their favourite table in the library, one that was perfect for studying. It gave them a lot of light from one of the big windows but didn't face out onto the Quidditch pitch so none of them were tempted to abandon their work for a pick-up game (usually). It wasn't in a musty corner but it was far enough away from the noise and bustle of the central hub of the library that they could work in relative peace. And somehow everyone knew it was theirs and tended to leave it empty for the trio that enjoyed working there.

They were hard at work with their homework, studying in silence and separately now after their group session for DADA had gotten a little raucous and they'd been glared at by Madame Pince.

But Rose couldn't help but look up every now and then to peer at Scorpius surreptitiously and smile a little at his frustration whenever the white-blond locks of his fringe fell into his eyes and disturbed his reading (which happened almost every minute or so). She didn't realise that as she got back to work Scorpius also looked up, almost shyly, to grin at Rose's adorable look of concentration as she tried to memorise complex Arithmantic formulae.

Albus noticed both of them but only rolled his eyes and looked away. He could only take so much of their sickeningly cute looks, especially when he was trying to work.

They continued studying for another hour, when they were reminded of how close to dinner it was by the noise of Rose's watch (a present from her mother designed to beep when a mealtime was near – Hermione Granger-Weasley knew from experience that food could often be forgotten in the pursuit of academic glory).

Albus immediately set off ahead of them. Saturday dinners always included curries as an option and he liked to arrive early to ensure he was able to get a large helping of the spicy food he loved.

Rose was meanwhile berating herself for getting very near to pining over Scorpius. She was rarely shy, but emotions weren't something she was as sure about as facts and spells and Quidditch.

She waited a moment, hoping that Scorpius would use Albus' absence to give some hint of his feelings.

But Scorpius was packing away his books and very determinedly not looking at her. She sighed quietly – clearly he didn't have anything special to say to her – and started to move towards the library's exit.

She had barely gone a few steps, though, when she felt a hand grab her arm.

She whirled around, ready to hex whoever had their hands on her (and whoever it was must be an idiot because everyone knew an angry Rose Weasley was terrifying), only to find herself face to face with a sheepish Scorpius.

"Err, hey Rose, can you … can you put the wand down?"

Rose stowed her wand away immediately, "sorry, Scorp, I didn't realise it was you."

He smiled nervously and she noticed his hands were shaking slightly.

"I was wondering," he said, "I mean I thought … maybe … if you wanted to … we could go out together sometime."

Rose beamed at him, the smile lighting up her face, "like a date?" she asked, feeling shyer than normal.

He grinned, "yeah, like a date."

"I'd like that," she said softly.

"Great," he leaned forward, as if unsure about what to do, and then hugged her quickly, "so next weekend then, we've got Hogsmeade then."

She nodded and watched him as he left the library, tripping over two chairs and one first year because he kept looking back at her.

She wore a silly smile for the rest of the day and didn't even get irritated when Albus, Dominique and Roxanne all teased her about it.

* * *

 **(1) Hogsmeade**

"Hi guys," said Albus happily as Rose and Scorpius headed out of the castle door and towards the path that led to Hogsmeade.

"Hey Al," Rose smiled, "going to Hogsmeade with anyone? Eleanora Nott has been asking Scorp about you."

Albus shrugged, "she hasn't said anything to me yet. Besides, the three of us always go together."

Rose's eyes widened, "but today is different, Al, remember?"

"Is it?" asked her cousin, "what's happening?"

Rose opened her mouth to remind him about her and Scorpius' date, but then Albus spotted Eleanora and vanished in her direction with a grin on his face.

Scorpius shook his head, "I'm sure he just forgot. And he'll probably be off with Eleanora for the rest of the trip."

Rose nodded, reassured, "yes, I'm sure you're right. Al's not the sort to ruin someone's date – though thank Merlin that James and Freddie have already graduated because they would be a nightmare if they were here."

They managed to get all the way into Hogsmeade and ten minutes into a visit to Honeydukes before Albus appeared again.

"Hey," he said in a voice muffled by a mouthful of his favourite treacle fudge, "I've been looking for you two. Everyone's going to visit the Shrieking Shack."

"Well we were going to go to Tomes and Scrolls …" Rose started.

"Oh I need to go there too," Albus exclaimed, "there's a new book out I want to get Lily for her birthday about the Holyhead Harpies – mum's in it, you know. We can go together now, and then meet up with everyone else at the Shack after."

"But –"

Rose's protest was cut off as Albus grabbed both her and Scorpius and dragged them out of Honeydukes and towards Tomes and Scrolls before they had even had the chance to buy anything from Honeydukes.

"I'm going to kill him," Rose hissed as Albus started searching the new releases section, "if we sneak out now I bet we can get away before he catches us."

Scorpius nodded and they both crept towards the exit as Albus made his way to the counter to pay.

But they were only half-way to Madame Puddifoot's – they didn't really like the place but it did serve great tea and was one of the last places Albus would think to look for them – when the middle Potter child caught up to them.

"Not much selection, was there?" he said cheerfully, elbowing his way in between them and slinging an arm around each of them, "it was lucky I knew exactly what I wanted. So are we going to the Shack now?"

Scorpius leant over to cover Rose's mouth before she could say anything.

"Sure," he agreed, "let's go."

"It'll be easier to lose him when we're around loads of other people," he whispered to her as they followed Albus to the Shrieking Shack.

Most of the seventh years were present when they arrived and as they were all immediately engulfed in hugs and greetings from their friends, Rose knew it would take a while to get away.

So she smiled and chatted and helped with the bonfire someone had started to toast marshmallows on and plotted revenge on Albus for continuing to ruin her attempt at a first date with Scorpius.

By the time they managed to slip away (Albus was distracted by an intense conversation about their current DADA topic with Eleanora Nott) it was 4pm.

"Well I guess we've got time for a quick Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks," she said gloomily to Scorpius, "see if we can salvage the day."

The pub was quiet and they got a table easily, and fell into a comfortable conversation about Animagus study. Rose snuggled up against Scorpius and they held hands under the table. It was nearly perfect.

Until …

"So here you are," Albus smiled, oblivious to the death glares his cousin and best friend were directing at him, "I thought we could walk back up to the castle together."

Rose went red, let out a shriek and stomped off out of the pub.

Scorpius sighed.

"Was it something I said?" asked Albus innocently, helping himself to the bowl of crisps on the table.

Scorpius stood up, sighed again, and left to catch up with Rose before she did something drastic like setting a tree on fire.

As soon as they arrived back at the castle Rose started pulling Scorpius in the opposite direction to the Great Hall, much to his chagrin as he was very hungry.

"Where are we going?"

"To the library," Rose replied.

"Why?" Scorpius asked with some trepidation.

"Because I need to look through the human to animal Transfiguration section. I want to make sure I get the wand movements exactly right when I turn Al into a frog."

"Rose," Scorpius ventured carefully after a moment of thought.

"What!" she snapped.

"Did we ever actually tell Al that we were going on a date today?"

"…"

"Rose …?"

"Damn," she tightened her grip on his arm and started tugging him back towards the Entrance Hall.

"What's wrong?"

"In my anger I may have cast a little spell on Al just before we got back to the castle, when he was distracted by talking in Parseltongue to that Adder. A slow-acting one that will kick in very soon unless I stop it."

"What does it do, Rose?"

"Well I was inspired by the time Lily and Louis got that magic-resistant strain of Chicken Pox that lasted two weeks …"

Scorpius' eyes widened, "Rose!" he shouted in alarm.

"Well this spell won't actually last two weeks," she tried to explain, "but maybe, since Al didn't actually do anything wrong, we should perhaps get back to him as quickly as possible."

They exchanged a look and started running.

Thinking of a time to try again with their date could wait until Scorpius was free of the threat of Rose's spellwork.

* * *

 **(2) Room of Requirement**

 _8.30am_

"The Room of Requirement," suggested Scorpius, "once we get in there we'll be safe from interlopers."

Rose nodded and wondered why they hadn't considered it before, especially since both of her parents and his father knew a lot about how the Room worked and had passed this information on.

"I guess we just have to work out a time it will be free," Rose said, "all my cousins know about it and I think the information has trickled out to other students too."

"Louis," they chimed together, knowing that Rose's gossipy cousin was the likely culprit – it may also have been the children of other DA members but from what Rose remembered her mother saying, it had only been her parents, uncles Harry and Neville, and Draco Malfoy who had understood the Room enough to properly utilise it.

"Right," Scorpius announced, "it's Saturday, we've done all our homework and I'm sure the Room will be free at some point today.

Rose smiled, even as she got an ominous feeling that it wouldn't be that easy.

 _9am_

The corridors were practically deserted – almost everyone was sleeping in, especially the Gryffindors (who had enjoyed a particularly rowdy victory party the night before after trouncing Hufflepuff in their Quidditch match). They made their way up to the seventh floor to find the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet, and Rose paced back and forth.

"We need somewhere brilliant to have our first date," she muttered repeatedly under her breath, concentrating her thoughts on the scene of a cosy room with a warm fire.

She opened her eyes and … nothing.

She tried again, concentrating even harder.

But no door appeared.

"It must be in use," Scorpius told her.

"At 9am on a Saturday?"

Scorpius shrugged, "not everyone in this school cares about a lie-in. Most of us do, but I reckon it's someone like Lily trying to get in some early morning exercise done while it's too cold to go outside."

"I guess," Rose agreed, "or maybe someone came here to sleep last night to get away from the party noise."

"We'll go to breakfast," said Scorpius, "I bet when we're done the Room will be free."

Rose nodded and they both set off for the Great Hall, the delicious smell of pancakes, bacon and syrup more than making up for the delay in their plans.

 _11am_

Breakfast had ended up lasting longer than expected when they got into a debate about some of the spells classified by the Ministry as 'dark'. By the time they got back to the Room of Requirement it was 11am.

It was also apparent that they were moments too late.

As they turned the corner they spotted Roxanne slip through the Room's door, which vanished behind her.

Rose let out a string of swear words her mother would be appalled to hear her use.

"I'm sure she won't be long," Scorpius attempted to soothe Rose's temper.

"If she's working on a new prank then she could be hours," Rose seethed, "I'm fairly sure when she was planning the prank that had everyone talking only in rhyme for six hours, that she spent nearly a solid week in there, only leaving for lessons and food."

"Okay," Scorpius sighed, "why don't we go and see if Professor Fieri will let us use the DADA dummies – I think you'll feel much better if you can explode something in a safe environment."

 _3pm_

They ran into Roxanne on their way up to the seventh floor.

Rose grinned, "you're finished in the Room?"

Roxanne nodded with a mischievous smile that probably meant they were all going to wake up with neon pink hair some morning in the near future, "yeah, but Dominique is in there now – she says there are loads of useful books and equipment there to help her practice her curse-breaking skills."

Rose loved Dominique, who was her best friend and favourite cousin (just beating Albus by virtue of the fact that Dominique had never convinced three snakes to go to sleep in Rose's bed), but right now Rose bemoaned the fact that Dominique was so dedicated to following in her father's footsteps.

"I don't think she'll be long," Roxanne offered, "you know curse-breaking makes her hungry so she'll be going down for dinner by five."

Rose said nothing and just stormed off.

Scorpius gave Roxanne an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry about … her."

Roxanne only grinned, "I grew up with Rose. All I can say is you have fun with that."

She walked off, her laughter echoing down the hall as Scorpius chased after Rose to make sure she wasn't planning on putting curses on any of Dominique's things.

 _5.30pm_

"Dinnertime," Rose said, "my whole family eat like maniacs so I'm sure they won't miss it."

"I very much hope so," Scorpius sighed.

They met Albus on the fourth floor, "oh hey, are you guys going to help set up in the Room of Requirement too?"

"What did you say?" asked Rose coldly.

"The party, remember? For Georgiana Thomas' seventeenth birthday."

Rose went red. Clearly she had _not_ remembered.

"Al," Scorpius advised, "run … run now."

Albus did not need to be told twice.

He fled.

* * *

 **(3) Hogsmeade (Take Two)**

They decided to try again for a Hogsmeade first date and had prepared by informing all of Rose's cousins currently attending Hogwarts (because even though they had only told Albus and Dominique about their attempts at a first date they had been overheard by Louis, who had promptly informed every other cousin about the news) that if they attempted to interfere they would be reminded – painfully – of exactly why Rose and Scorpius provoked both awe and fear among most of the student population.

Albus had apologised profusely (for the tenth time) about ruining their first attempt at a date and had promised solemnly to stay at least ten metres away from them at all times. And a lucky coincidence had landed Roxanne (the most likely to try and cause a disruption for them merely for her own amusement) in detention on the day of the Hogsmeade visit for a prank that had earned her two Howlers (a frustrated one from her mum and a congratulatory one from her dad).

"So where do you want to go?" asked Scorpius as they walked down to the village together, holding hands and blushing with a shyness they both rarely displayed.

"Maybe Honeydukes first," Rose suggested, "before it gets too busy. And I need to make a stop at the bookshop."

"The Quidditch shop too?" Scorpius asked.

"Oh yeah," Rose agreed, "I need a new Broomstick Servicing Kit."

"Did you want to go to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"

Rose shook her head frantically, "not today. James and Freddie sometimes help out there on Hogsmeade weekends and they'd only tease us."

"Ashamed to be seen with me, Rosie?" Scorpius laughed.

"Trying to protect you from as much of my crazy family as I can," she countered.

He grinned and she felt a sudden rush of affection for him. She leant up to hug him quickly only to trip over thin air and bash their noses together.

They both cried out in pain and the moment was ruined. She looked around suspiciously – she was _not_ usually that clumsy (not like Teddy) and she suspected a tripping jinx – but she didn't see anyone around, no sniggering cousin to accuse.

Rose ducked her head in embarrassment and apologised, but Scorpius waved her off, "don't worry, I'm fine. We'll go down to Honeydukes now – chocolate makes everything better, you know."

Rose gave him a weak smile. Not the best start but she was hopeful about the rest of the date.

Things _did not_ get better.

It was as if they were being haunted.

If they held hands then something would always pull them apart. Whenever they tried to hug, a short, sharp electric shock forced them to jump apart. The one time they almost kissed they found themselves suddenly drenched in cold water.

Everywhere they went was crowded and noisy. They couldn't have a proper conversation because they had to shout at the top of their lungs just to be heard. When they wandered towards the Shrieking Shack in search of some peace and quiet, they walked straight into a fifth year snowball fight that it took fifteen minutes to escape from.

Rose insisted that they both perform curse detection spells on each other, just to be safe, and when all the spells came up negative she got so frustrated that she nearly burst into tears.

The final straw came when they sat eating lunch, squished into a booth with barely any room to breathe and noisy groups either side.

"Does your pie taste funny?" asked Scorpius.

Rose looked up from her meal (which was as delicious as always and not at all odd tasting) and her eyes widened.

"What?"

"Your hair," she breathed out.

Scorpius suddenly looked terrified. He lacked the blood prejudice his father had as a teenager but he certainly possessed the Malfoy arrogance about his appearance and never went out without ensuring his clothes were impeccable and his hair perfectly styled.

He conjured a mirror and Rose winced as she saw his expression when he realised that all his hair (plus his eyebrows) had vanished.

He grabbed her hat, caring not one bit that it was in Gryffindor colours, and jammed it on his head, all the while looking around to see if anyone had noticed his sudden baldness.

"We have to leave," he hissed.

"Scorp, it's only 12.30," she reminded him.

"I can't be seen like this," he cried out, "I'll be a laughing stock."

"If you keep the hat on, no one will even see. It's so cold everyone is half-hidden by scarves and coats anyway – I doubt anyone will notice."

"My hair, Rose!" he exclaimed as if the world was ending.

Scorpius was one of her best friends, her only rival for first in their year academics-wise, her favourite Quidditch practice partner, and the boy she thought she was falling in love with. But he was also ridiculously dramatic at times.

"Fine," she muttered, "it's not like we've managed to have any fun anyway."

They hurried out of the Three Broomsticks and into the snow to begin the trek back up to the castle. Neither of them spoke – they knew there would be other chances for their first date but the way they kept being scuppered was wearing on their nerves.

"I feel sort of bad," said James as he and Fred stowed their wands, put away all the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes merchandise they hadn't used on the unsuspecting couple they were spying on, and watched Rose and Scorpius walk back up the castle with angry expressions, "he's not a bad bloke and even if he is a Slytherin he's certainly got some Gryffindor in him for being brave enough to go out with Rose."

"Scary, she is," Fred agreed, "like aunt Hermione."

"I can't believe Lucy told uncle Ron."

"I can," Fred countered, "you know what she's like – any hint of one of us doing something our parents wouldn't approve of and it's like she's compelled to spill the secret. Now all we ever hear about from uncle Ron is how it's a ferrety, Malfoy conspiracy."

"I wish they'd explain the ferret thing," sighed James, "it sounds like an awesome story. But every time I ask, dad stops uncle Ron from telling me, and aunt Hermione just says that Draco Malfoy was a spoiled, prejudiced boy but he's grown up and everyone should be civil."

"I think Rose and Malfoy Junior are planning on being a bit more than civil," Fred wiggled his eyebrows.

James shoved him, partly because Fred looked ridiculous and partly because Rose was one of his favourite cousins and he _did not_ want to think about her dating.

"I wouldn't worry," Fred told James, "those two will get their date eventually – they're both too stubborn to let uncle Ron ruin it for them."

"I guess so," James assented, "and maybe we should drop a hint to aunt Hermione, just to make sure uncle Ron doesn't interfere anymore."

"You don't think she'll set the canaries on him again, do you?" asked Fred.

They both winced at the memory of the last time uncle Ron had made aunt Hermione mad.

"Maybe we should make sure my dad is there when we tell her," suggested James, "and plan an escape route just in case."

"It's a plan," they agreed in unison.

* * *

 **(4) Hogwarts Grounds**

"Right," Rose said, "all my cousins are either playing in or watching the pick-up Quidditch game and that should give us at least an hour. What about your friends?"

"Aidan and Geraint are involved in the chess tournament to decide who gets to ask Eleanora Nott to the graduation ball first. I'd really like to be absent when they realise that she's already agreed to go with Al. Brendan is watching the Quidditch game and Tristan is, I believe, hiding under the Quidditch stands kissing your cousin Lily."

Rose tilted her head in thought – Tristan Pucey was pretty quiet, not the sort of guy she'd expect her vivacious, outgoing cousin to date, but he was probably her favourite of Scorpius' friends.

"Alright then," she said, "let's commence attempt number four."

They tried a picnic by the lake first, but the Giant Squid was unusually active and kept splashing them with disgusting lake water.

"Yuck," Rose said as she flicked algae out of her hair, "I can't believe uncle Harry had to swim in this."

"We could move further away from the lake," suggested Scorpius.

"We'd be really close to the Quidditch pitch," Rose reminded him, "too noisy."

"The east side of the castle?"

"Some of the muggleborn and half-blood fourth years are teaching their friends how to play football and I do not want to get hit in the face with a football."

"Near Hagrid's hut?"

"I've heard rumours that he's trying to breed Blast-Ended Skrewts again, and mum and dad's stories about those things are not at all cheerful."

Scorpius screwed his face up in thought, "the Grove?"

Rose lit up, "of course!"

The Grove, as Rose had christened it, had been discovered by the two of them and Albus in their fifth year. Far enough away from the lake, Whomping Willow and Forbidden Forest to be safe, it was also free of the noise of games and chatter and Quidditch that could often be heard across the Hogwarts grounds.

It was a lovely little area perfect for a peaceful picnic and unknown to most of the students at Hogwarts.

They headed over to the Grove and spread a blanket Rose had packed in her bag, tilted their faces up to enjoy the sun and … felt the first drops of rain.

Rose, trying to be optimistic for once, was about to say it was sure to only be a brief shower, when they heard the rumble of thunder.

By the time they made it back to the castle they were both soaked to the skin.

They spent the rest of the afternoon drinking Pepper Up Potion (because the school's mediwitch thought they looked peaky) while Rose tried to figure out the complex wand movements for a spell that would create an invisible umbrella over a certain area (roughly the size of the Grove) for a few hours.

* * *

 **(5) Malfoy Manor**

They had decided on Malfoy Manor as the scene of their next attempt at a proper date, mostly because there was an extremely low chance of any of Rose's family interrupting them.

They had not considered Scorpius' father.

"No," he said flatly when Rose arrived.

"Dad," Scorpius protested, "you like Rose."

Draco Malfoy remained silent on _that_ point. He did in fact like Rose, just as he now counted Hermione Granger-Weasley as a friend (though one he took great joy in arguing with about nearly everything), but he was not about to admit it out loud.

"I will not have Ronald Weasley whining and moaning in my direction for the next six months because I let the two of you have a date here."

"Mum won't be happy that you're indulging dad's stupid Malfoy paranoia," Rose pointed out.

"Your mother," said Scorpius' father, "can be reasoned with, or if that fails then bought off with some five hundred year old book from the Malfoy Library that no one but her will ever want to read, whereas Ronald Weasley will hound me for eternity – and I will not tolerate Ronald Weasley for more than five minutes every few months."

Rose narrowed her eyes but Draco Malfoy just stared right back.

She lost the staring contest and told herself it was only because he'd had longer to practice his stare.

"Don't tell you mother," he said to a scowling Rose as she grabbed some Floo Power.

Rose just threw the Floo Power into the grate and vanished out of the fireplace.

"You know she's definitely going to tell her mum, right?" Scorpius asked.

"I am aware," his father drawled, "and no doubt I will be hearing from her shortly. But I was quite serious about Ronald Weasley – I can't stand him and I'm not getting involved in this. Besides, Scorp, you're a Slytherin for Merlin's sake – perhaps you might consider acting like one in your pursuit for an uninterrupted date?"

* * *

 **(+1) Muggle London**

"Why didn't we think of this before?" asked Rose as they sat at one of balcony tables enjoying the sun at a lovely restaurant Rose had gone to with her family for her birthday two years previously, "no one would expect us to have our first date in the muggle world."

"Well we have been pretty limited in our choices before now," Scorpius said, "what with being at Hogwarts most of the time."

"It's insane that it's taken us nine months to have our first date in peace," said Rose.

Scorpius shrugged, "between Al being oblivious, your cousins and my friends interfering, and our parents – or rather our fathers – getting involved, I'm honestly surprised that we've managed it at all."

"This was a brilliant idea, Scorp."

"I suppose I have to give my dad some credit. He told me to think like a Slytherin and then I tried to think of a place no one would think we'd choose."

Rose laughed, "it's like they forget that your dad has loads of muggle investments."

"I don't care what anyone thinks – we're having our date … finally."

Rose took a bite of her pasta, sighing with happiness as she looked out over the London skyline.

Scorpius reached over to take her hand and she revelled in the simple intimacy between them.

"Do you think we'll manage to reach the goodnight kiss stage of the date today?" Scorpius winked at her.

She blushed a little but gave him a little grin, "if you're lucky, Scorp."

They both leant back in their chairs, happy to just be together, and smiled.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it.**


End file.
